Apple has finally admitted that the iPhone 3GS can suffer from heatstroke, kind of.
In a support document on the its website, Apple has urged customers to use the iPhone 3GS “in a place where the temperature is between 0°C and 35°C”. It can be stored anywhere the temperature doesn't stray out of the -20°C and 45°C range. …

"listening to music while in direct sunlight"

Oh great

"Using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight," it added

So no navigating myself to the local park and listening to music when the sun is out, that's Ok, I;ll just wait until it's dark to do my sunbathing.

Is there any other normal usage for this product that will be discouraged? maybe the volume level will be restrained to avoid ear damage, or the battery will be non-removeable to avoid people playing with it, or maybe it won't take storage cards so that we can't lose them.

Compact and sensitive hardware in sensitive to heat shocker

This is news? Any piece of hardware that's small, compact, densely packed and has complicated precision components is going to suffer from an inability to dissipate heat. I wouldn't leave my Android or WinMo device in a hot car or direct sunshine for long either (although the Magic is white so may deflect heat better).

35 degrees?

No sunlight?

Apple have created a vampire phone! I've just thought of a great business idea - little "iCoffins" to keep your iDracula from bursting into flame. The I confidently predict the poloneck brigade will buy them by the ton.

Old news ...

That Apple support document has been out for months (see http://www.macworld.com/article/140541/2009/05/iphone_heat.html) and only recently updated to mention the 3GS.

All consumer tech kit suffers badly when ambient temperature is to high or too low or if the pressure is too high or too low or humidity too high etc ... get over it, read the manual and use it as proscribed or buy a military spec one instead.

@lee

next time its hot in your car put your hand on the dash.. its whats absorbing the IR from the sun and creating the heat that you need to open the window for... the problem with the iPhone as a sat nav is that it would be mounted on the dash in the sun and also (especial the black version) become an IR absorber... It will definatly be hotter than you (whom I presume is able to sweat to cool off)

@AC 12:49

The iPhone does not "fail" above 35C. I live in a hot climate (Portugal) where the temp is regularly well above 35C in the summer. I take my iPhone to the beach, carry it around in my pocket, use it in the car and take no special measures to keep it cool. It's never had any overheating issues and I've never seen any overheating warning. It's a non-issue, and certainly not newsworthy, but El Reg does love feeding the irrational Apple-hater commentards like yourself.

@michael brown

A quiet day at the news desk

That must mean time to recycle non-news shock horror avoid situations that may cause device to overheat.

Really people, the way serious tech is used and abused defies logic. Some plonker even posted on YouTube a video of him dropping his 3GS into a pool (it survived by the way, show me any smartphone that would do that!).

All Apple have done is like any other manufacturer and posted a set of recommendations about use avoiding overheating that is bad for any electronics and battery tech. Like any guidelines they are conservative.

So I'm afraid that all of you regular nay-Tards are going to be sadly disappointed and have to go elsewhere for your satisfaction. You won't be reading legend tales of iPhones spontaneously combusting or giving up the ghost any time real soon now.